Abhishek Banerjee (born in 1985) is an Indian actor and a former casting director. He is best known for his roles in the Maddock Horror Comedy Universe films as Jana in Stree, Bhediya and Stree 2 and as Hathoda Tyagi in Amazon Prime Video series Paatal Lok. Banerjee's other notable films include Dream Girl, Dream Girl 2, Rashmi Rocket, Vedaa, and Stolen.
Early life and education Abhishek Banerjee was born in Kharagpur, West Bengal in the Bengali family of Aloke Kumar Banerjee, a former assistant commandant of the Central Industrial Security Force and Sumira Banerjee. He received his higher education in Delhi. He initially took computer science, but dropped out. He subsequently took admission in the English honours course in Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi, a college he chose because of its dramatics society, "The Players".
Career Banerjee began his acting career with Delhi theatre. He worked in a Doordarshan show during these days. His first film appearance was in Rang De Basanti, as one of the students auditioning for a documentary role. He moved to Mumbai from Delhi in 2008. He worked in Knock Out as a casting director in 2010. He also acted in Soul of Sand in 2010.
In 2011, he worked as a casting director in The Dirty Picture and No One Killed Jessica. He worked as casting director in Bajatey Raho and Mickey Virus in 2013. He then acted in Bombay Talkies in 2013.
Banerjee acted in short films Fuddu Boys and Agli Baar in 2015.
He also worked as a casting director in Umrika and Gabbar Is Back in 2015. He further worked as a casting director in Dear Dad, Do Lafzon Ki Kahani, Rock On 2 and You Are My Sunday in 2016. He worked as a casting director in Ok Jaanu, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, Secret Superstar, and Ajji in 2017. In the same year, he acted in the movies Phillauri and Ajji.
He then returned to the role of a casting director for the film Brij Mohan Amar Rahe in 2018. He starred alongside Rajkummar Rao and Aparshakti Khurana in Stree in 2018. For this film, he was nominated for Zee Cine Award for Best Actor in a Comic Role in 2019.
In 2019, he worked as a casting director of Kalank. In the same year, he also acted in Arjun Patiala, Dream Girl, and Bala.
Besides films, he also acted in web series like TVF Pitchers in 2015, Mirzapur in 2018, and Typewriter in 2019 where he played a key role as 'Fakeer'. He runs "Casting Bay" along with his friend Anmol Ahuja where they cast actors in advertisements, films as well as web series. It was established in 2017.
He played the role of Jin Liang in Kaali 2, which released on ZEE5 as a web series in 2020. He played the role of lead antagonist and dreaded hitman Vishal Tyagi (Hathoda Tyagi) in the Amazon Prime web series Paatal Lok, a performance he was much lauded for. He was also the casting director for the web series. In 2021, he was seen in the Varun Dhawan starrer, Bhediya, reprising his role from Stree. He reprised the role again in the movies Munjya, Stree 2 and Thamma. Banerjee was next seen in the Tara Sutaria led Apurva.
Banerjee received critical acclaim for his performance in the film Stolen, which premiered in the 2023 Venice Film Festival on 31 August 2023. It premiered on Amazon Prime Video on 4 June 2025. Critics highlighted Abhishek Banerjee's portrayal of Gautam as one of the standout performances of his career. Hardika Gupta of NDTV stated "Abhishek Banerjee delivers what is arguably the best performance of his career, shedding the comic persona often associated with him and slipping into a role that requires restraint, fear and eventual resolve."
Filmography
As casting director YearFilm2010Knock Out2011No One Killed JessicaThe Dirty Picture2013Bajatey RahoMickey Virus2015Gabbar Is Back2016Dear DadDo Lafzon Ki KahaniRock On 2Tu Hai Mera Sunday2017Ok JaanuToilet: Ek Prem KathaSecret SuperstarAjji2018Brij Mohan Amar Rahe2019KalankThe Sky Is Pink2020Paatal Lok
As actor Year Title Role Notes 2006 Rang De Basanti Auditioner 2010 Soul of Sand Daya 2011 No One Killed Jessica Pickpocket 2013 Bombay Talkies Man sitting at Bhurji Stand Go Goa Gone Pharmacist 2017 Phillauri Soma Ajji Vilasrao Dhavle 2018 Stree Jana Asees 2019 Arjun Patiala Dream Girl Mahinder Rajput Bala Ajju Made In China Officer 2020 Bhonsle Rajendra Unpaused Manish 2021 Ajeeb Daastaans Sushil Helmet Sultan Ankahi Kahaniya Pradeep Loharia Rashmi Rocket Eeshit 2022 Highway D Telugu film Bhediya Jana Vakeel Babu Shiraz Hassan 2023 Dream Girl 2 Shahrukh Aankh Micholi Harbhajan Singh Apurva Sukha Stolen Gautam Bansal 2024 Munjya Jana Cameo Vedaa Jitendar Pratap Singh Stree 2 Jana 2025 Thamma Jana Cameo 2026 Toaster Glenn Dsouza Mirzapur Subodh alias "Compounder" Lust Stories 3 Debendu
Television Year Title Role Notes 2015—2022 TVF Pitchers Bhati The Viral Fever 2016 Humorously YoursBhushi 2018 Mirzapur Subodh aka Compounder Amazon Prime 2019 Typewriter Fakeer Netflix 2020 Paatal Lok Vishal "Hathoda" Tyagi Amazon Prime Kaali 2 Jin Liang ZEE5 PariWar Munna Disney+Hotstar 2022 The Great Weddings of Munnes Munnes Voot 2023 Rana Naidu "Jaffa" Pawan Netflix 2023 Aakhri Sach Bhuvan Rajawat Disney+ Hotstar
Short film YearTitleRoleNotes2015 Fuddu Boys Lambu Agli Baar Mahinder 2020 Second Hand Prakasham 2021 Paash - Trapped Truck Driver
Awards and nominations Year Award Category Work Result Ref 2019 Zee Cine Awards Best Actor in a Comic Role Stree rowspan=3 2020 Filmfare OTT Awards Best Supporting Actor (Male) (Drama Series) Paatal Lok 2022 Filmfare Awards Best Supporting Actor Rashmi Rocket 2023 Filmfare OTT Awards Best Actor in a Series (Male): Comedy The Great Weddings of Munnes
References
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